Multiple military style vehicles were used to bring SWAT teams to Wednesday's attack in San Bernardino. Similar personnel carriers are in the possession of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties police departments, following controversial acquisitions.

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Following the mass shooting at a center for people with developmental disabilities that left 14 people dead, the shooters fled in their vehicle. Police SWAT teams arrived in Bearcat-style vehicles, and the shooters, a husband and wife, were in their black SUV. While in pursuit, police say they were fired on and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms reported what looked like a bomb was thrown out the SUV.

Armored vehicles were later used to converge on the couple’s vehicle and secure the scene.

It is the kind of use local police departments claim they need their armored vehicles.

Del Rey Oaks, population 1,672, has a MRAP, a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle. It is a tool the police chief says serves the whole Peninsula area, population 104,393.

"I've given directions to my officers. If you hear you hear radio traffic that dictates the need for that vehicle, nobody is going to wait for my approval, the vehicle is going to go," said Del Rey Oaks Police Chief Ron Langford.

Del Rey Oaks acquired the MRAP free of cost from the Department of Defense as part of the 1033 program. The Department of Defense program provided police departments and sheriff offices with surplus military vehicles free of cost.

Del Rey Oaks received the $750,000 vehicle in spring of 2014, and the maintenance on the vehicle is being covered by donations from a private citizen.

The MRAP was designed to take improvised explosive device blasts and can withstand up to 50 caliber rounds of ammunition, and the chief estimates it could hold 15-20 people inside.

"I want to make a point it's not only for officers. We can also evacuate citizens, and it is the largest one in Monterey County," he said.

The vehicles have been controversial.

"The problem is not going to be solved with the militarization of our police, or furthermore the militarization of our entire society," said Phil Butler, with the Monterey chapter of Veterans for Peace, about the shooting and the use of military vehicles.

Butler said military vehicles in the hands of civilian police make the community angry, and he does not think the tool is necessary, even in situations like the one in San Bernarndino.

"I believe the police force in San Bernardino, without the MRAP, could have solved the problem, with their own equipment and high powered rifles and with their training," he said.

The vehicles used in San Bernardino Wednesday were Bearcats, not MRAPS.

Langford said his officers have never used the MRAP, and he hopes they never have to, but he said an attack on the Monterey Peninsula could happen, and if it did, the MRAP would be used.

"I don't think anyone could prepare for what happened in San Bernardino, but you certainly have to have the resources available to you to deal with it, and it has to be done quickly," he said.

The Salinas Police Department has an armored rescue vehicle, and Santa Cruz police received a Bearcat this summer after much community protest.